Black Rock Shooter Vortex: The Game
by Dead Space Wing
Summary: You've read what happened After The Game, now read about how Ren and Stella's journey together began in BRS V: The Game. Featuring a new viewpoint, new areas, and a remastered story straight from the smash PSP game, it's time to play The New Game... Black Rock Shooter Vortex: The Game. Features slight to moderate OCxStella
1. Cisco Ruin (The Final Weapon Awakens)

15th of September, 2016

9:23 AM

Green Hills, South Island

* * *

"Man…" Ren sighed as he walked down the dirt path. "I'm so bored." The seventeen year old had his hands in his jacket and walked at a very slow pace towards town. He hadn't had an adventure in quite a while, and was just lounging around the house most for most of his days. He tried to keep his schedule busy, but things went by too quickly, and he ran out of things to do before he knew it. His little sister Seri and his best friend Ethan had school to attend, and his older sister Ami was off at some scientist's convention somewhere representing V-TEC, his family's company. And he sure as hell wasn't going to try to spend time with dear old dad, not that he wanted to anyway. He sighed deeply again. "Maybe it's time I went on a vacation somewhere…or learnt how to swim for once." Eh, he'll learn how to swim later. That vacation sounded just right for now. "Where should I go to?" He thought as he walked. "Maybe I could go someplace away from the island? Or just close enough to it?" Even though he didn't know how to swim and hated being in the water, he always liked the relaxing feeling of just lying around a beach. "Maybe I'll head to one of the neighboring islands and hang out there for a while. Something's got to be happening over there…" He thought for a second. "I'll go to Westside Island. There's always something fun happening there." With that thought he turned on his heel and ran back to the house.

As he entered, a small mew came from the other side of the couch. He looked over it and a black and forest colored ball of fur promptly attached itself to his face.

"Yeah, nice to see you too little buddy." He said with his voice muffled. He pulled the cat off of him and started to pet him garnering a purring response. "I wasn't even gone that long Dagger. You're so clingy sometimes. Now, I'm gonna be gone for just a few days, you know the rules. No scratching the furniture, no raiding the fridge, and keep watch over the house. I'll call Ethan's place so they can come and feed you." He put the cat down and refilled his food and water. Then he went upstairs to pack. "Let's see, got some spare clothes…gonna need some SPF…some trunks….maybe a radio too. Can't relax without my music! Hmmm…maybe a rash guard in case I'm unlucky enough to fall in a pool or something. And...I'll take a hat and sunglasses too. Might as well."

As he threw the items into a small backpack, his eyes fell on a blade that hung from the wall. He recognized it as the old Mk 1 Saber he used before the Mk 2 GunSlash became his weapon of choice. It didn't have any ranged ability (other than throwing it, which seemed to work consistently enough.) but it was great for what it was designed for, hacking and slashing. He took it off the wall and in his hand then activated it. A quiet hum sounded as a white energy edge surrounded the blade. "Good to see the old girl still works just as good as when I left her." He thought for a second. "Maybe since the GunSlash is being worked on, I can use the Saber instead? Yeah! It'll be just like old times! But if I pull this weapon, it would have to be for a good reason, since it doesn't have a cutting power limiter like the GunSlash does." He searched the hilt still he found the blue button then pressed it. The weapon disappeared in a white flash from his hands, storing itself as Esper Energy within his body. Now whenever he needed to use it, he would only have to think and it would be there for its master to use. He only hoped he didn't have to use it.

"Alright then. That should about do it." He said while zipping up his back pack a few minutes later. He made his way downstairs and quickly called Ethan's home and left a message to care for the place and feed Dagger, then he went out towards the hangar. There was a ferry going to Westside Island, but he liked the feeling of going there on his own terms. Besides, he had a bi-plane, so he was going to use it! However, when he was about halfway, he sensed some shimmering energy sources in the woods. It was kind of empty feeling, but powerful and not of this world. "Another world in trouble?" he thought. Being the curious adventurer he was, he followed his senses to a small clearing in the forest. There in the middle of it was a portal, looking out into another world. Ren went up closer to examine it. "This world seems….kind of different somehow. But I can't put my finger on why that might be…"

As he looked closer into it, he heard a rustling in the bushes to his six o'clock. He whirled around to face the source of the noise, but it was too late. A humanoid figure had delivered a strong kick to his midsection, knocking the wind out of him and sending him hurtling into the portal. The figure followed him in, but disappeared to parts unknown. Through time and space he fell for what seemed like an eternity, then he was dropped out and falling towards the Earth. Ren flipped over in the air only to face the rushing ground coming to meet him. "Shit! This is gonna hurt!" He braced himself as he collided into the ground, blacking out.

* * *

Date Unknown

Time Unknown

?

Ren's fingers twitched as he slowly regained consciousness. He groaned and sat up, his head and arms pounding in pain as he did. "Uggh…" He was lying in a pile of rubble and debris and looking at a somber greenish gray sky. "Where…am I?" Standing wobbly he looked around him. There were buildings broken and demolished, with some even having vegetation growing out of them. The roads and sidewalks were cracked beyond all repair and cars sat abandoned and scattered around the place. Eerily, there was not a soul to be found. It felt like a ghost town or city.

He mind thought back to what kicked him into this place. Who or what was it? It was too fast for him to get a good look at it. Whatever it was, it was smart enough to lay a trap for him, and he fell for it hook, line, and sinker. He then remembered his pack. It didn't land too far from him, but as he checked it he found that everything except his extra changes of clothes and shoes were all gone without a trace. "Damn, so much for my vacation…well…as long as I'm here, I might as well get moving…" Holding one of his arms with the other with his pack slung snugly on his back, he began to explore the city. After what seemed like an hour of walking, he sighed and looked to the skyline. "Maybe I'll get a better view from up top." He searched around for a tall building and found what looked to be a black corporate building. "That should do the job." With that, he took a running ready pose even though it hurt his arms to do so, then he blazed off directly towards it. Speeding onto its walls he started to run directly up the side and all the way up onto the roof. Once he reached the top he walked to the far edge and looked out onto the city below. He whistled in amazement. The entire city seemed like something out of an old zombie movie. There didn't seem to be anything or anyone around, and the city was falling into deep disrepair. "What a mess. What could have happened here? I need to find some people so I can figure all this out, and maybe try to figure out what I'm supposed to do here."

Suddenly, he heard some loud pops a few blocks away accompanied by shouting and screaming. "Gunshots?" he wondered. "I don't like the sound of that…" His right hand, while still badly injured, twitched to have the Saber in its grasp. He was glad he decided to take it along with him after all. "I'd better be careful going there…the people there could be hostile…" With that he hopped down the broken and mangled pieces of the building and landed on the ground while rolling to cushion himself. Then he jogged at half speed to the source of all the commotion. As he got closer, the gunfire became louder and explosions rocked the foundation of the earth causing him to stumble a little bit. "The heck is going on over here?" He didn't have to wait long for his answer. He reached the source of the commotion and looked out below him. Soldiers in some kind of black armor were shooting at something far ahead, which in turn was shooting lasers back at them with brutal accuracy. Close to him was a trailer truck of some sort guarded by more soldiers. One was typing into a console on the side with great frustration, while the one that stood out the most was a man with a muscular build and a bare chest. "I do some pretty crazy things I'll admit, but nothing like that guy. Why doesn't he just paint a big target on his chest that says 'Shoot me here'?" Ren thought to himself. The soldier typing on the console slammed his fist down on it and growled. "Come on wake up!" He looked over his back and saw a soldier vaporized by the attackers in the distance and stared in horror. The bare chest man walked up to him and pinned him against the trailer.

"Wake her up dammit!"

"I've done all I can!" The soldier cried out. "We just have to wait!"

His radio crackled to life. "We need a prince to wake her up or something!" Off in the distance, another soldier moved up to the corner of the street and motioned them to move up.

"Can it will ya!" The bare chest man barked. "And get back over here or you'll-"

He was cut off by a laser cutting through the far off soldier's chest, killing him instantly.

"Tonio!" Another soldier rushed over to try to vainly save the other before suffering the same fate.

The bare chest man sighed. "Just twelve of us left. Then humanity will be extinct."

The soldier he was pinning brushed him off. "Don't just count it down like that! You'll jinx us!"

The bare chest man then pointed his assault rifle at him. The soldier yelped and jumped out of the way just in time from the other's incoming fire. Ren instinctively took cover behind some rubble as the bare chest man rained bullets at the trailer. "Wake up damn you!" he shouted as he emptied the weapon.

Just then, the top of the first car of the trailer burst open. Ren peeked from behind cover to look as the man stopped firing his weapon. Inside the trailer lay a girl maybe about his age with long raven black hair tied into twin tails with one end shorter than the other. She wore a black jacket with white stripes running down the sleeves with a star stamped to one side, with the jacket exposing her midriff and belly to show a black and white string bikini with some kind of barcode text along her lower left rib and her right kidney. He also had black short pants, several pouches around her waist and one strapped to her right leg and black and white boots. A small mechanical device of some sort was attached to the back of her waist. She then opened her eyes, which seemed to shine a brilliant light blue. Ren and the soldiers alike watched her get up and walk casually over to the other trailer car, then pull the top off it with little effort and toss it away. Inside was a large black cannon and a black sword. She picked the two up, the cannon in her right, the sword in her left, and then leapt off the trailer high into the air, landed on the ground, and rushed towards the attackers.

Ren was stunned for a minute. Just what did he just witness? Who were these soldiers? Didn't they say there were only twelve humans left? How did that all happen? And that girl…just who was she?

"Well, only one way to find out!" He jogged back a couple feet then stopped. He then began to run in place until his feet became a figure eight to the naked eye. "Here goes! Hopefully I don't get shot or something!" He burned out and started to run with blinding speed to the edge where he was observing and catapulted himself off of it. He landed just in front of the point the girl had landed and startled some of the soldiers.

"Whoa! Who the hell!?" The soldier on the console yelled. Not waiting for another word, Ren ran for all he was worth towards the girl's direction until he finally reached her. She was fighting against what looked like mechanical weapons of some sort, some greenish hornet looking bots with purple dog robots. The girl shot her cannon at the dogs and destroyed them with ease, but the hornets weren't staying still and were trying to shoot laser stings at her and physically trying to sting her. Ren pushed his speed as fast as he could go in his normal form and leaped up into the air towards the hornets. In the air, his Saber materialized in his right hand and he slashed a hornet in two before it exploded. Another hornet noticed him and tried to shoot him, but the girl found her mark on it and took it down in an instant. The last one was within Ren's range. Tucking into a ball and bringing the Saber out in front of him, he flipped in the air with great speed and collided with the hornet head on, the super fast slashing of the Saber sheering right through it, making it nothing more than scrap. Ren landed on the ground and screeched to a halt with a confident grin on his face.

"Heh. That was too easy." He said while the Saber de-materialized back into its master. As he started to pick bits and pieces of scrap from his jacket, the girl walked up to him with her sword pointed at him.

"Who are you?" she questioned him with a soft voice.

He noticed the sword pointed at him and slowly raised his hands in defense. "Whoa whoa! Easy there! My name is Ren Vortex! Hero, adventurer, too handsome to get his head lopped off!" He said trying to joke around a little despite his situation.

The girl wasn't fazed by this and continued to hold her stance. "Are you an enemy?"

Ren lowered his hands and looked at her puzzled. "Huh? Enemy? In case you didn't already realize, I kinda helped you kick these scrap heaps to the recycling bin?" He kicked one of the destroyed remains of the mechs to emphasize his point. "I'd say that makes me a friend, right?"

"A friend…" The girl lowered and sheathed her sword. "…Okay."

"What's up with this girl?" Ren thought. The soldiers he had rushed past had finally caught up to them.

"Hot Damn!"One of them said. "Look at her!"

"That's got to be the cutest ultimate weapon I've ever seen!" Piped up another.

Another turned to the bare chest man. "Looks like there's still hope, eh Phobos?"

The bare chest man, Phobos scoffed. "She's still just a kid."

The soldier that operated the console glared behind his helmet. "Hey! She saved us remember? At least show some gratitude!" He walked up to the girl. "Right?"

The girl was silent for a second, then whirled around and pointed her cannon at the soldier, stunning the rest of the cadre and Ren too.

"Are you my enemy too?" She asked.

"No no no!" The soldier cried. He started to remove his helmet. He had short dirty blonde hair, hazel eyes, and had a short stubble of hair on his chin. "The enemies are the ones who attacked you. We're your friends!"

Again, at the word friend she relented and she slung the cannon over her back. "Okay."

Ren's heart skipped a beat when she pointed the cannon at them, and sighed a deep sigh of relief when she pointed it away from them.

The man named Phobos turned his attention to the brown spiky haired teenager behind the girl. "Who's this then? A survivor?"

The soldier looked around the girl. "Oh! Another human like us? Great! Say, are you alone? Or do you know of any others? Where's your family? What's your name?"

Ren was silent. He wasn't sure if he should let them know he was from another world or not.

See, from his first ventures outside his own world to the present situation, he was always reminded by his sister Ami that the collective universes had one thing that separated yet bound them all together: The World Order. It was said that once, all worlds were as one, and that they all co-existed in harmony. However, evil desires shattered this harmony and threw the world into chaos. To prevent this from happening again, the heroes of the world split the world as they knew it into millions upon billions of fragments. Each of these fragments was a new world in itself. Some, like Ren's own Earth were comprised of multiple fragments while others were solitary. The gods then devised the World Order. In this Order, the primary law of all the multi-verse was that one could not meddle in the affairs of other worlds unless the world itself called for one's aid or grants one entry to it, and no one world must know about the existence of other worlds as a whole, and that only the heroes of that world may bear such a secret.

In his adventures, he had met many heroes with whom he had trusted with this secret. So could one of these people be one of them? He couldn't be sure. He didn't know any of them well enough yet to guard the secret, but then again if there were only twelve humans left in this entire world, then would it really matter who he told it to? He decided to make up a story for now and then tell them all later when the time was right.

"Um…yes, I'm alone. I just arrived in this city two days ago. I lost my family to these…things. My name is Ren."

The soldier looked down solemnly. "Ah, I see. I'm sorry Ren. We all know how you feel. All of us here have lost a lot in this damn war. Sometimes I still can't believe that everything, everyone, they're all gone."

"Damn kid." One of the soldiers said. "It's pretty rough for us as a group, so I can't imagine what it might be like for you all by yourself."

A lot of the soldiers agreed with his statement. Even the girl next to him looking his way seemed to show some pity, if only slightly.

Ren put on his best act as a loner teenager. He could be able to get some information this way. It wasn't right, but it was the only way to keep The World Order AND be able to find out just what was going on in this world.

"How did this all happen anyway? How could it have come to all this?"

The soldier in front of him and the girl put his hand on his shoulder. "Hey hey, we shouldn't worry about that right now. Right now, we have to focus on getting the hell out of here before more of those Armaments show up."

"Armaments?"

The soldier looked toward the broken piles of scrap that the girl and Ren had destroyed.

"Oh. So that's what they were called…"

While they were talking, the girl looked up to a billboard up on a building. The billboard had an image of a woman on it.

"Who's that?" She asked.

"You mean you don't know!?" The soldier talking to Ren exclaimed in surprise. "She's Sing Love. She was in all the D'dario Next commercials. She was pretty popular back when the war began. You sure you don't know her?"

Both the girl and Ren nodded their heads in unison.

"Geez." He replied in embarrassment. "Guess I made myself out to be a fan boy then just now."

Then the radio buzzed with life. "Marion here. Status report Phobos."

"Jon, Koichi, and Tonio are KIA." Phobos replied.

"…Roger that. Anything else?"

Phobos looked at Ren and the girl. "Sleeping Beauty is up and around, and we found one human survivor. Caucasian male, late teens, gray and red clothing, brown spiky hair, gray eyes."

"Good. Then we'll be heading out as soon as possible. We'll be meeting up at the Cisco Portal."

"Roger that. Phobos out."

Then the girl looked up at something else.

"What is it?" Ren asked as he followed her gaze. The soldier traced her sight as well and the three of them spotted more green hornets and purple dogs climbing over the cliff where Ren jumped off of.

"Multiple enemies!"

"Dammit, run!" Phobos yelled.

"What about the trailer?" A solider asked. "Are we just going to leave it behind?"

"Of course not!" Phobos replied. "If we stick around any longer they'll destroy the trailer and us along with it. We have to retreat for now; we'll come back for it later. Got it?"

"Yes sir!"

"Good, now run!"

The soldiers started to move out. Ren was about to make tracks when he noticed the girl hadn't moved an inch. She looked like she was lost in some kind of dream.

"Hey!" Ren called to her. He ran back to her and put his hand on her shoulder. "What's the matter, you asleep or somethi-AAAHHH!?" Something inside of him started to react to her and he was suddenly shown a vision.

_He saw an old man and a young girl. The young girl had black hair tied into short twin tails while the man had a small facial beard. The girl was crying, and the man spoke to her. "Now, run." He gave her a small stuffed bear. "Take this with you." He hugged the girl as she tried to say something. "Don't cry; just run as fast as you can."_

Just as quickly as the vision appeared, it disappeared. Ren found himself on the ground, the girl knelt next to him.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay." She helped him up to his feet.

"Let's run." She said.

"Alright then..." He replied woozily.

The two of them ran from the onslaught of enemies that soon overtook the trailer space. As they ran together, Ren's mind was full of questions and not enough answers. "What was all that just now? Was I dreaming somehow? Just what the hell is going on here!?"

* * *

**It's time to play the New Game…**

**Black Rock Shooter Vortex: The Game**


	2. Generator Destruction (Wake Up Rock!)

Date Unknown

Time Unknown

Ruined Streets

Ren shut his eyes after the purple dog he slashed blew up to protect his eyes from flying scrap. "Heh, this isn't much of a challenge to me." He said to himself as he engaged another, cutting a deep gash in its face.

"Don't get cocky kid!" One of the soldiers voices on his comm said. "There are way worse things than Eaters and Hornets out there. Watch yourselves! We're counting on both of you."

"Yeah yeah…" He sighed as he propped the Eater up and stabbed it with his Saber and then flung it off the blade into another. The explosion of the stabbed Eater caused the other to explode as well. "Cool, two-for-one!" He grinned with satisfaction. The girl hardly looked his way as she gunned down Hornets with her Cannon. One by one they fell to her, and little by little she was starting to remember how to fight. Before long, the area was clear of Armaments.

"Easy peasy." Ren sighed as he put away the Saber for now and dusted himself off. He walked over to the girl who was scanning the area for more hostiles. "Are you okay Rock?" he asked.

She stopped and nodded at him. "Mhm."

"Alright, great work so far you two. The objective is a couple more clicks due north." The soldier that removed his helmet said.

"Roger that Rothcal." Ren replied. "Let's make like trees and get the leaf outta here!"

The girl tilted her head in confusion.

"…Means Let's Go, just so you know."

"I see." She walked on ahead while Ren mentally face-palmed himself as he walked beside her.

* * *

A few minutes earlier…

* * *

The swarm of Armaments rushed by the squad as they hid in an old alleyway, the metallic clanking and inhuman screeches slowly dissipating as they passed.

"Alright, looks like we gave them the slip." Phobos whispered. "Now would be a good time to introduce everyone. We may not get a chance later on. My name is Phobos."

One by one, each of the soldiers gave their names.

"My name is Xiomin Lee. You can call me Xiomin or Lee. Either is fine."

"Dogayev. Alexei Dogayev."

"I'm Bob…or Robert…Uh, but don't call me Bobby!"

"Lars Johansen. It's nice to meet both of you."

"Yo yo yo! I'm DJ Dully! And I ain't no bully!

Finally, the soldier with his helmet off spoke. "I'm Rothcall Shepard. I'll look after you two when you're not in battle."

Ren nodded. "My name's Ren. Ren Vortex!" He turned to the girl with a friendly smile. "And you are?"

The girl remained silent and closed her eyes. After a second or two she replied. "I…don't remember…"

Ren raised his eyebrow. "You've forgotten who you are?"

She nodded.

"Her real name is unknown." Rothcall spoke up. "However, she does have a codename. I think it was…"

Suddenly, the girl slowly spoke up. "…Black….Rock…..Shooter. I think that's my name…"

"Ah yes! That was it. Black Rock Shooter or BRS for short."

"Huh…that sounds kind of familiar somehow." Ren hummed as he put his hand on his chin.

"Never mind that." Phobos interrupted. "Now that we know who everyone is, it's time to move out. We need to get to the Cisco Portal north of our current position."

Rothcall shivered a little bit. "It's not going to be easy. Most of the routes are blocked off, and the only route through is swarmed with enemies. The Commander said that there was also one Generator in the area too…"

Phobos scoffed. "We have the girl now, right?"

"But usually it took ten missiles just to destroy one Generator."

"But she's way stronger than ten missiles right?"

Rothcall scratched his head. "That's what her paperwork says anyway."

"Let's see what she can do." Xioming said.

"Yeah!" Bob joined in. She can do it! She'll definitely do it!" He looked back at BRS with a nervous glance. "…Right?"

"I don't know…" She replied.

'"I don't know until I try.' Is what you meant to say, correct?" The Commander's voice reached through the comm.

"In any case, we need to act. First we need to clear the area to secure an escape route." Phobos looked to BRS. "You will take point and clear any hostiles you see, got that?" She nodded. "The rest of you lot will take positions in the rear. Don't attract any unwanted attention and let the girl handle the Armaments. If all goes well, we'll all make it out of here in one piece."

"Yes sir!"

Phobos quickly snuck a peek out around the corner. "The coast looks clear. PSS, tally ho!"

BRS tilted her head.

"Tally ho is like, "Charge" or Move out" or something along those lines." Rothcall explained. "The original meaning was different, but who really cares now?"

Phobos face-palmed. "Damn…just get moving already."

The soldiers got into position near the rear flank as ordered while BRS moved up to the front. Ren casually followed after her.

"Hey kid!" Bob called on his comm device. "Where do you think you're going!?"

"I'm joining the party up front. You ladies can have fun there in the back. I'm not missing any of the action thank you very much. Besides, I think I can help her. No, I WANT to help her. So I will. It's as simple as that."

"This isn't a game kid! You're going to get killed if you go out there!" Rothcall pleaded.

"Let him go Shepard." Phobos said.

"What!?"

"If the kid wants to fight, let him fight. As much as I don't like it either, it's ultimately up to him. Besides, didn't you notice? Something is peculiar about him. He's no ordinary lad. Let's see what he can do as well."

Rothcall sighed in defeat. "All right. But kid…Ren…be careful out there. If there's anything you can't handle, let us handle it. Don't take any chances."

"No worries Roth. I'm good." He jogged up to BRS. "Hope you don't mind if I tag along with you, Rock."

The girl tilted her head. "…Rock?"

Ren nodded. "Going to have to call you something, don't I? At least until we know what your real name is anyway. Besides, I don't want to call you BRS all the time."

She thought for a second. "…Rock..."

"Do you want me to call you something else? Just say the word."

She shook her head. "No. Rock is okay with me."

Ren smiled. "Alright then Rock! Pleased to meet you! Now, let's get this done together!"

"Ok."

And with that, the two charged forward.

* * *

Back to the present...

* * *

"Hold up a second you two!" Rothcall said as the two of them approached a big purple pillar. The pillar was sprouting out Eaters and Hornets in regular intervals.

"So," Ren said. "This is the objective?"

"Yep. That's our Generator all right. Damn, look at that thing. It's spawning Armaments like crazy!"

"Yup. It's non-stop. Move in whenever you're ready." Phobos ordered.

"Alright, alright." Rothcall spoke to the front team. "That's the generator. Think you two can take it out?"

"…I won't know until I try." Rock replied.

"You're more reserved than you look."

"It'll be no problem if it's the two of us. These guys don't stand a ghost of a chance." Ren said.

"And you're pretty confident."

Rock was silent for a few seconds.

"What's wrong Rock?" Rothcall asked.

"…ho…?"

"Oh yeah that!" He smiled on his end. "Come on kids, tally ho!"

"Alright then." Ren turned to Rock. "I'll handle the small fry while you take out the Generator? You have the firepower and I have the speed, so I'd say that's the best course of action."

"Sounds good." Rock nodded.

"Great. Then here we go!" Ren dashed off into the heart of the Armaments and whistled. "Hey trash cans! You missed a guy! Right here!" The Armaments surrounded the teen in seconds. "Perfect. Now let's rock!" He leapt up in the air and kicked a hornet sending it flying towards three more before landing on top of an Eater. He put his shoe on its back and winded up for a golf swing. At the last second, his Saber came to his hands and teed off the Eaters head, its body slumping into a heap. Several hornets shot at him, but their bullets either missed or were deflected as he threw his Saber at the swarm. The Saber sheared off many of their wings and wholly destroyed several more before finally sinking edge first into another Eater. Ren ran up to it and flipped in the air grasping his weapon before driving the rest of it right through the Eater, destroying it. "Man, these things' frames and defenses are so brittle. Makes it easier to cut through em all! I'm starting to wonder just how an army of these wiped out almost all of civilization on this world."

Rock circled around to the right flank and whipped her cannon at the Generator. She fired as many shots as she could before she over heated, but the structure still stood albeit a little less stable. 'It's tough.' She thought. Then, at that moment, she began to remember a Skill she knew in the past. "Maybe that'll work." She pointed her cannon at the Generator, but did not fire. Instead, she let energy condense and build up inside the cannon until she could see it brimming out of the barrel.

"Rock….HA!" She fired and a massive blast loosed itself free from the cannon and tore straight through the Generator, showering the street with scrap and debris.

"…Mission Complete." She said.

"That was cool!" Ren piped up as he finished off the last of the Eaters and Hornets. He jogged over to Rock who slung her cannon back over her shoulder.

The rest of the PSS moved up behind them.

"Wow." Rothcall said breathlessly. "I guess getting revenge for seven billion people may not be such a crazy dream after all…"

Ren rubbed his nose and smiled while Rock only stood quietly.

Suddenly, an earth shaking vibration was felt to everyone's 9'o clock. A huge hulking red Armament was bee lining toward them with murderous intent. "Don't relax just yet. We're not done here." Phobos said.

"Heh, we can't let these kids upstage us! C'mon Lars, back me up yo!" Dully said as he moved t engage the Armament. Lars followed on his six without a word.

"This is going to be tough, but you can handle it, both of you. Good luck." Phobos said to Ren and Rock as he watched from afar with Rothcall.

"All right! Finally something interesting! Okay Rock! Tally ho!" He charged towards the Armament but soon stopped when he realized he was the only one moving. "Huh? Rock?"

"Oi! What's wrong!?" Phobos yelled to Rock. She returned his yell with more silence.

"Hey Rock! Our pals need us up here! Let's go!" Ren called to her. More silence.

"Are you ignoring us?" Rothcall yelled. "Are you not going to help!?" Still more silence.

Lars just barely managed to shove Dully out of the way of a fatal energy blast from the Armament. "Is she broken!?"

"Damn dude! That's just rude, y'know!?" Dully agreed as he and Lars fired at the Armament.

'Crap…' Ren thought. 'What's going on with Rock? If we don't do something quick, Dully and Lars…' He sprinted back to Rock and shook her a little.

"What?" She responded.

"What?" Ren echoed. "What do you mean what!? Our allies out there are in danger and you're just standing there watching them get slaughtered? What's YOUR problem!?"

"There are no enemies in range."

"WHAT!? What do you call that big red guy over there then!?" He pointed to the Armament. He was getting noticeably anxious and angry, something that he never showed unless it meant life or death.

"It didn't attack me, so it can't be an enemy."

"Are you serious!?" Both Rothcall and Phobos shouted over the comm.

Ren was, much to many people's amazement due to his quick and carefree attitude, a very patient young man when it counted the most. He was durable and flexible, rolling with the punches and flow even when he didn't like them, and always respected his friends and their views. However…two men were about to die because of Rock's jarred and confused logic. He felt his anxiety and frustration reach his breaking point, and he did something he'd never thought he'd do in his entire life.

He hit a girl.

Rock slowly turned to face Ren, her eyes wide in surprise and her right cheek flaring a sore red. "Why-?"

"Let me teach you something real quick Rock…when someone or something attacks your friends, he's an enemy. You don't stand by and let them pay the price, you defend them with everything you have and then some. You fight to the very end until either you die, or your enemy dies. THAT is what you do, and THAT is what we WILL DO RIGHT NOW. Got that?" he didn't wait for an answer as he suddenly took her free hand and leaded her towards the Armament. "Lars, Dully! Get back! We'll handle this!"

"Roger that, kid. Dully, let's move. We're not doing any good here."

"Aw man…roger that."

Ren walked faster now that he knew Lars and Dully were out of harm's way, fast enough that Rock was beginning to stumble a little bit as they walked up to the Armament. He then turned her around so that she looked straight into his eyes.

"Anyone who attacks them," He pointed to the PSS. "And us," He tapped his chest then hers. "They're our enemies. Got it?"

Rock looked at the PSS, then back at Ren. "…Yes."

"Good. Now let's finish this guy off. I'll get its attention, you keep firing at it. Simple plan. Let's do this." With that he let go of her and ran towards the Armament. It raised one of its legs in an attempt to crush him, but he dodged to the side and began hopping up onto it. Rock followed and fired several shots at it, each shot exploding on the Armament on contact. As she cooled down a little, she decided to start aiming better as to not hit Ren by mistake. With this in mind she fired more shots downrange. Ren stood on top of the mechanized beast's back and started hacking away at it, sparks and metal flying everywhere as he did. "Eventually, we'll hit something important..!" He thought as he razed its back with Saber slashes. The Armament howled as it tried to shake Ren off but was stopped quickly by more cannon fire. Ren jumped onto its head and saw the head was less resistant to his attacks than the rest of the body. He jammed his Saber in and cut a hole into the Armament, finding the core that controlled optics. "Hope you won't need this big guy!" He cried as he cut the core in half. It roared in synthetic pain as it rampaged, thrashing and thundering towards Rock. 'It's time to end this.' She thought. She readied her Skill, her Charge Shot, and aimed it at the beast. "Fire!" The shot ripped through the external plating of the Armament, but didn't stop it completely. She charged up for another attack. "Fire!" This shot found its mark. It blasted through the Armament and it ceased to move, clumsily falling dead with a mighty crash, catapulting Ren off. He flipped in the air several times before landing with a skid.

"Holy Jesus…" Bob uttered.

Rock walked back to her position near the destroyed Generator. Phobos looked steamed and chased after her with Rothcall trying to calm him down. Ren just stood there, bewildered and shocked by what he did earlier. Now that the beast was destroyed, he immediately felt bad about hitting Rock. The situation was urgent yes, but maybe there was another way he could have handled it. He slowly trudged back as soon as Phobos backed off Rock and saw Lars walking up to her. He managed to catch the beginning of their conversation.

"Thanks for pulling me and Dully out of there. We'd both be dead if it wasn't for you and the other kid."

Rock reached and touched a red line across his armor. "You're hurt..?"

"Just a scratch is all. I'm not going to die from it. I'll be fine."

"I see…" Rock looked down at the ground.

"Oh! I almost forgot about these…" Lars gave her a stuffed polar bear doll and an odd blue gem cut in the shape of a star.

Rock looked over each with a dreamy face. "I recognize these…"

"You should. I found them in your trailer when we found you. Are they important to you?"

Rock closed her eyes and looked as if she was straining to remember. "….I don't know."

Ren's heart sank at those words and immediately felt worse. "Maybe…that's because of me…y'know…just a few minutes ago." He sighed and hung his head low. "….."

Rock put a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong, Ren-kun?"

Ren looked up when she said his name. "…I…I'm sorry Rock. For hitting you, I mean. I meant every word I said, but, there wasn't any good reason to hit you at all. I'm sorry…"

"…It's ok." She replied to his and Lars's amazement.

"..Ah…well, I still feel pretty awful about it. So let me make you a promise."

"A promise?"

"Yeah. Something that you tell someone that you'll do, and you never go back on it no matter what." Ren nodded. "I promise that I'll never do anything like that to you ever again, and I'll always be there to help you and back you up. Because you and me…I think we make a pretty good team, don't you think?"

At those words a small smile crossed Rock's face, and she nodded.

Ren felt a huge burden lift from his shoulders as he smiled back at her with a big goofy grin and a slight blush.

"Hey, you kids done dating over there?" Phobos cut in over the comm. "It's only a few clicks to our base, so move it!"

Lars shook his head. "Alright. Well, anyway, just hold onto them for a while. My grandfather taught me that even the littlest of things become more important over time."

"Okay. I'll hold onto them." She replied with a nod.

"Well, we better get moving." Lars went up ahead.

"So, what are we waiting for?" Ren asked. "Let's go….partner!"

Rock smiled a little.

"Ok."


	3. The Enemy Unmasked (MEFE)

Date Unknown

Time Unknown (Afternoon hours)

Ruined Streets

* * *

A low growl from Ren's stomach could be heard as the soldiers and Rock walked with him to their place of rest. He groaned and clutched his stomach. He didn't eat anything when he left the house to go on vacation this morning. He figured he would be able to get to Westside Island without being sucked into another world. Guess he figured wrong…again.

Rock tilted her head at her partner. He was beginning to act strangely ever since a few minutes after taking down the huge Armament and was making a noise every few seconds. "Are you…hurt?" She asked.

"Who, me?" He replied. "Nah, I guess I'm just a little hungry is all. I didn't eat anything this morning…"

"Don't worry." Rothcall said over the radio. "We've got lots of food back at our base." He looked back at Rock. "What about you, kid? Feeling hungry?"

Rock shook her head. "No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I just need a Repairer, that's all." No sooner did she say that however, than another low growl joined Ren's own stomach whining.

"Oh really now?" Rothcall chuckled. Rock blushed slightly and turned the other way while Ren did his best not to laugh.

"Cut the chatter people." Phobos cut in. "We're at point B."

Point B was, quite literally, a fork in the street. The left path led back around to the trailer. A long way back, but as far as Intel was concerned, there were no enemies on this route, since Ren and Rock had already cleared the area after destroying the generator. At least…Phobos hoped so. He wasn't about to lose another man on his watch. The right path however, led to their base of operations. It was blocked off by a gate that was built a while ago to keep enemies out. 'Lot of good that did us.' He thought cynically. It wasn't known if there were any enemies along this route or not, although he wasn't going to take any chances on it. If it was anything to be proven from events recently past, both the Gray and the kid would be able to handle anything that lay in wait for them along that route, so naturally they would have to be the ones to clear it out. He'd send along Roth and Xiao with them too, Xiao for fire support and Roth to get the gate open while he and the rest of the squad would double back along the left route back to the trailer and drive it back. Alright, they had a plan. Time to execute it.

"Ok people, listen up. Along the right road here, there's a gate leftover from the old wars. Thing is the damn thing is locked to prevent entry into the city, so we need to get it open somehow. That's where you come in Rothcall. You gotta get that gate open or we'll never get out of here."

Rothcall gulped nervously. "Y-yes sir."

"Don't fret. You've got excellent backup going in with you. I'm talking about you three." He pointed to Ren, Rock, and Xiao. "You all make sure he gets to the gate. Me and the rest of the boys will go along the left route and re-secure the trailer. That kind of tech isn't meant to just be sitting there collecting dust. Once you get the gate open, radio us and we'll come running and pick you guys up."

"Alright then." Ren replied.

"Well then what are you waiting for? PSS tally ho!" He and the other men started to move down the left route as Ren straightened his gloves on his hands and warmed up. He wanted to straight rush it to the gate due to being famished beyond all imagining, but he knew Rock and the others wouldn't be able to keep up with him if he did rush it. Well, ok…maybe Rock *could* keep up with him. But that still left Roth and Xiao. Nope, gotta take it at a steady pace for them.

"Ok. Well, let's hoof it to the gate then." He said. The others nodded and started along the path.

* * *

A few minutes later…

Golden Gate Gate

* * *

Ren whistled at the huge wall that spread before the group. It looked worn down in some parts yet brand new in others. There was a small black terminal in front of the part that opened. That must have been the controls. His guess turned out to be correct as Roth walked up to up and started hitting some buttons. Xiao was scanning the area around them for enemies while Rock stood silently by Ren.

"Huh, looks like it still has power. That's pretty lucky for us eh?" Roth said to himself. As soon as he said this however, the terminal asked for confirmation from the other side. 'So it's one of those doors huh?' He grumbled under his breath.

"Everything cool?" Ren asked.

"Well, there's good news and bad news. Good news is there's still power being generated to open up the gate. The bad news…there's another terminal on the other side that needs to be activated at the same time as this one." Roth looked upward. "Unless one of us can fly, we're going to have to take the long way around…"

"No." Ren grinned. "No we don't."

Roth looked puzzled by the remark. "How do you mean, kid?"

"Just watch and keep in touch on the radio." Ren jogged backward a couple of paces while he and the others watched. He started to tap his foot. "Coming Rock?"

"…Where?" She asked.

"Up there of course!" He pointed to the top of the wall. She tilted her head in confusion, but walked over to him anyway. "Hop on my back." He said. She did as she was told. He was a little surprised at how light she was despite the huge cannon on her back. "Hang on tight." He began to run in place just as he did a few hours earlier. His feet and legs became blurs as they formed a mobius strip and suddenly shot off towards the wall. He could hear Rock gasp a little as they sped up and on the wall and before long, shot clean over to the other side. As they landed, Ren poured on the brakes just as he did a while ago and skidded to a halt.

"That was fun, right?" He asked her. She looked a little surprised, but otherwise said nothing. "Guess I'll take that as a 'yes'." He let her down and they both walked over to the black terminal on the side they were on.

"Paging Dr. Rothcall! Please report to the gate please!" Ren said into the radio in a joking manner. "Dr. Rothcall!"

"I'm here!" Came the reply, albeit a little shaky. He must still be trying to come up with a question as to just how a kid like him just ran up the side of a wall and carried another person doing so. "Uhh…you should see a yellow button on the console. Got it?"

Rock located the button on the console. "Yes."

"Ok…on three, I want you to press that button ok?"

"Ok."

"Alright, here we go….One….two….three!" Rock pressed the button on three and the gates began to open. As they did, Ren looked out towards the sea. If this was San Francisco, then even the seas went to hell as the water splashing onto the gate was dark and green. The navy must have waged a great battle here if the water was this polluted. It was strange though, if there had been a battle here, he should at least see some shipwrecks or debris floating around, but nothing could be seen for miles. Nothing, except for a big island about a couple miles away. Wait…. A big island near San Francisco!?

"…South Island?" He squinted. Sure enough, his island home, albeit murky, dark, and with huge smoke plumes coming from all points of the island, was there. So, whatever happened here also happened to it too…he shuddered to think what might be there lying in wait…or what might not…

Suddenly, two sapphire eyes popped in front of him and nearly gave him a heart attack. "GAAAAAH! Don't appear out of nowhere like that!" Ren gasped while clutching his chest. As he looked up he could have sworn he saw Rock smile at him. "Err, anyway, let's wait for the trailer to get here."

A few more minutes later…

Come on…hurry up…!" Xiao mumbled over the radio.

"You're pretty strung up today." Roth said as he noted Xiao's arms shaking from aiming his gun downrange for too long.

"Well anybody would be in a situation like this!" Xiao replied.

Ren was sitting near a pile of rubble with Rock standing guard at the gate not a few feet across from him. He was in deep thought about the other version of his island. Usually when South Island appeared in another world in one way or another, that world and his world were connected somehow. 'The question is…how?' He thought to himself. 'I got pushed across space….did I go forward in time too? Or…?' He shook his head. It wouldn't do any good trying to figure it all out right now. Besides, he figured once he got to this base the PSS were talking about, he could let them in on his secret. That he wasn't from this world, and he was actually sucked into it through his by an unknown person. And of course, chow down on some much needed food! He sighed and looked up towards Rock, only to find that she wasn't there anymore. "Huh? Rock?" he got up and jogged over to where she was originally standing and looked around. She was nowhere in sight.

"ROOOCK!" He called, gaining the attention of Rothcall and Xiao.

"What happened Ren?" Roth asked.

"I think Rock wandered off somewhere, but she shouldn't be too far. Can you track her somehow?"

"Yeah, we should be able to. Let me just check this here and…" He pulled out a tablet like device and booted it up. A map of the area sprung to life onto the device and showed Rock's position as a black dot alongside a purple dot. "…..Oh no…."

"What? What is it?" Ren asked.

"Run."

"Huh?"

"Just run over there RIGHT NOW! I'll explain everything later; she's in trouble and needs help NOW!"

"Whoa whoa! Alright!" Without any second thought, Ren burnt shoe rubber running to where Rock last wandered off to. "Man! Sometimes this girl is such a pain!"

Meanwhile…

Rock stopped running and relaxed her cannon over her back. She scanned the environment around her. "…I know she's here." She muttered to herself. When she was guarding the gate, she thought she saw a woman on the top of a small building on the other side of the Gate. Curious, she followed where the woman was and sure enough, she saw her again a small ways away. She continued to follow her until she lost sight of her around this point. "Where did she go…?"

"Hola! Buenas Tardes!" A voice far in front of her called out. Rock centered in on the voice, and sure enough, the woman she saw earlier was standing atop a tall pile of rubble. She didn't recognize what she was saying though, and kept looking at the woman from downrange. She must have noticed that she didn't understand her, as the woman then followed up with "Hello!" Suddenly, she disappeared in a small puff of smoke and reappeared in front of Rock. She was a young woman wearing a stereotypical outfit of a magician-class character in a role-playing game and had short light purple hair and eyes with the same shade. Her outfit was made up of a black shirt tied only at the point between her breasts, and was open in the back, closing below her shoulder blades. She also wore light purple leggings and two belts, one of which was attached diagonally while the other was secured in place the typical way. Her feet were slightly obscured by a pair of accessories consisting of a piece of pleated black cloth attached just below the knee with a belt each. She also wore a simple black glove on the left hand and a glove with metallic detail on the right and a choker with a blue gem pendant and a pointed hat adorned with a vertebra-like design.

Before Rock could ask who she was, the woman cooed "Oh…you're a cute one…." She walked up to Rock and whispered "Que Buena pinta…" before licking Rock's cheek. Rock was confused by this odd woman's behavior. "Just as I thought…" The woman said. "…you're a Gray."

"Are you an enemy?" Rock asked.

"Hmm…maybe!" The woman grasped Rock's throat and lifted her up suddenly. Rock struggled to breathe as the woman smiled. "Just hold still for one second okay?"

Ren was gunning it as fast as he could when he heard Roth on the radio. "Hurry Ren! She's starting to lose consciousness!"

Ren growled under his breath. "Guess I gotta use that old move if I'm going to catch up to her in time!" He stopped in his tracks and crouched down. White energy began to flow around him as he spun his whole body in place on the ground, making a loud KEEEEEEEE! noise. Revving it up as quick and fast as he could go, Ren, now a gray and red spinning ball to the naked eye, released his charge and rocketed towards Rock and the woman. KA-SHOOOOOOM!

"You should feel yourself going to sleep soon…" The woman chided. "Isn't it grand?" Rock struggled to break free, her cannon resting on the ground as she tried to wiggle out of the woman's tight grasp.

"KEEEEE!"

The woman heard a high pitched noise from behind her prey and looked around her, and got a face full of size ten and a halfs. She was launched away by the attack and skidded on the street while Rock fell onto her knees, hacking and coughing.

"…What?" The woman looked up to see who attacked her and saw Ren wagging his finger at her.

"Now now, didn't your mother ever tell you to keep your hand to yourself?" He said with a cocky grin. He turned to his partner. "You okay there Rock?"

She nodded and picked up her cannon, aiming it at the woman. "She's…an enemy."

"Yeah, I noticed." Ren said sarcastically.

"Oh oh?" The woman got up and put a hand on her hip. "And didn't yours teach you not to hit a lady?"

"First of all, you're no lady. Second, don't hurt my friends. Third, the Hammer of Justice is unisex. Sorry pumpkin, you're plum outta luck!" Ren said confidently.

"So it's true…" The woman said. "You are as witty and powerful as she said." Ren narrowed his eyes at the woman at the mention of the word "she" as she continued. "But, too bad for you, I'm here for the chica beside you." She faced Rock next. "But don't worry. I'm not going to kill you right now. Because if you ARE that Gray…killing you would get ME killed." She took out a large hammer like weapon as she said this. "But so long as I'm here…I might as well push you both as close to death as possible!"

"If I had a nickel for every time I heard something similar to that…" Ren said to himself as he materialized his Saber with Rock unsheathing her blade whilst still aiming her cannon at the woman. "So, I generally like to know the names of the people I'm gonna beat down before I actually beat them down. What do they call ya?"

"Ms. Mefe, to you."

"Perfect." Ren said. And with that, he and Rock rushed her. She flipped her hammer and energy beams shot forth from it causing them to split up; Ren taking the left while Rock took right. Rock managed to squeeze off a few shots on Mefe with most of them being deflected by her hammer, although one got through and hit her in the waist, causing her to flinch. Ren took this opportunity to leap into the air over her and snatch her hat.

"Aha!" He exclaimed while examining his new prize. "I was thinking it was pretty stupid looking, but this is actually a really nice hat! Maybe I'll sell it to some Australian dude who can then sell it to a bunch of mercs fighting over gravel pits or something. Or, I could give it to a wizard that has an annoying roommate. Yeah, either or seems like legit plans!"

"Ugh! Give that back!" Mefe took a swing at Ren while Rock tried to rush her, causing both of them to duck. She then twirled her hammer in the air as five dark energy balls appeared and flung them at the duo. Ren swiftly dodged them in style while Rock dodged when she could and shielded herself with the cannon when she approached her heat limit. Rock then interlocked weapons with Mefe and pushed her back, parting off a few more Rock Cannon rounds. Ren stepped in and slashed into her torso, then followed up with a swipe to her collarbone and a kick to her stomach. She fell to her knees.

"Huh. That was too easy. Way too easy." Ren remarked. "Get up Mefe. All three of us know you're not done yet."

Mefe looked up and took her hammer in her hands. "Indeed!" She then swung at the two's feet. Both of them jumped out of the way but she managed to clip Ren, causing him to fall on his hands.

"OW! My lemon toe!" Ren yelped as Mefe brought the hammer down. Rock jetted back into the fray and deflected Mefe, then cut into her legs and head butted her backward. Cursing something in Spanish, Mefe began to fire off hammer beams at both Ren and Rock, each one more powerful than the last in a dance like motion. Scrambling to get out of the way, Rock and Ren nearly almost collided with each other during the last volley.

"Enough." Rock said quietly as her eye started to blaze a brilliant blue flame. She ran and got in between Mefe as she was finishing her move and leapt into the air with blade in hand and, with all her strength, slashed into the witch.

Mefe was again on her knees, but Rock wasn't finished yet as she rushed at her once more with her blade. Mefe blocked her blow and the two began fighting faster and faster. Not content to be sitting this one out, Ren hopped into the fray as three bodies were twisting, juking and weaving whilst swinging sharpened objects at each other. Finally, Rock hit Mefe's hammer out of her grasp. She gasped, and Rock and Ren both slashed one final ending move that sent two flaming sword beams to cut through her body, one of blue flames, one of white and black.

"N…no…." Mefe sighed as she fell to the ground. "Lilio…h-hurry….come….quick…"

Suddenly a giant armament appeared before the trio. Rock and Ren tightened their grip on their weapons as it picked up Mefe and disappeared.

"Whew. Well, whoever she was…she won't be a threat now." Ren said. Rock nodded as he wiped the sweat off his brow.

"Wow! Wowie wow wow!"

Ren and Rock both turned around to see all the soldiers behind them with shocked faces and the trailer parked behind them. Well, the ones whose faces could be seen anyway. One soldier was celebrating like crazy. 'That has to be Bob.' Ren thought.

"That was Mefe, right?" Dully asked aloud.

"Yeah, the A-rank alien in the flesh." Roth confirmed.

"And these two kids took her out all on their own…" Lars said.

The squad took positions around a tunnel entrance and parked the trailer inside it while Roth and Phobos walked up to Rock and Ren.

"You really are something amazing." Roth said to Rock.

"Yeah, even though she's not the sharpest knife in the drawer." Phobos commented.

Ren was about to fire something back when Roth gave him a look that said "Let it go.", which he did reluctantly as Phobos walked to the tunnel to brief the rest of the squad.

"What does that mean?" Rock asked.

"Oh, he just means you're amazing, like I said." Roth replied.

Rock nodded. "I see." Ren rubbed his nose a little and turned away. He wasn't angry at not being recognized for his share of the battle. It was just something he had gotten used to during his days of adventuring. Just seeing the world he was in become a little safer was all that he really needed anyway.

Roth looked toward the tunnel. "There's the portal. The entrance to the web tube. It's connects to all the UEF bases and all around the world. It's like a huge tunnel. And the PSS is-"

Both Ren and Rock alike looked highly confused by what Roth was saying, although Ren understandably showed this more than Rock, who just stared blankly.

Roth sighed and scratched his head. "How can I begin? PSS doesn't mean "piss" or anything. It stands for Primary Support Service. So basically, we're your support system. We're here to help you Rock. And we're also a part of the UEF."

"Oh, so UEF is…?" Rock had started to say, but stopped.

"Don't worry, you'll figure it out eventually. All you need to know is that we're the PSS, we're part of the UEF, and we're also the last remaining survivors on Earth."

"Got it." Rock replied.

Roth sighed once more. "I guess it still hasn't finally hit me yet." Rock tilted her head in confusion at the statement, but Ren could figure out what he meant by it. Them a loud growl noise could be heard from both teens.

"Agh, cripes….so hungry…" Ren sighed as Rock's normal stare changed to one of urgency.

Roth laughed. "Well anyway, let's head to our base and get something to eat ok?" He walked over to the tunnel entrance. Rock and Ren began to follow suit. Until…

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, Ren felt something. Something eerily familiar. He looked to where Mefe had fallen and noticed a small sparkle. "Hmm…what's that…?" He walked over to the sparkling object and picked it up. It was a purple brilliant cut gem in the shape of a triangle. "Huh…looks pretty!" He said.

"What is it?" Rock said.

"It's a gem of some kind." He replied. "Here." He handed it to her so she could see it.

"It's…pretty." She cooed. She looked at it for a while, then looked up to him. "Ren..?"

"What's up?"

"…Here." She handed the stone back to him plus the star shaped sapphire Lars had given her.

"What? You're giving me your stone too? Why?"

She looked down and didn't answer, but Ren thought he knew why she was doing this. "Are you trying to apologize to me somehow?"

Still more silence.

"I thought so." He closed her hands on both the gems and pushed them back to her gently. "You don't have to do that. Just seeing that you and everyone else are safe and sound is enough for me. Just, promise me that we'll stick together from now on. Ok?"

Rock looked up at him with a confused look for a bit, but nodded after a while. "Ok. I promise."

Ren smiled. "Good."

"Should we go then, partner?" She added.

He chuckled a little when he heard her call him that. "Yeah. Let's go."

And with that, the two of them headed over to the rest of the squad and into the tunnel network….


End file.
